Power Company Tip Leads to Bitcoin Mining Raid

[niothor]

http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/Pot-Bust-Leads-To-Investigation-into-Mans-Computer-228429621.html

Updated: Sat 12:33 AM, Oct 19, 2013

BROADWAY, Va. -- Friday night, Jonas Diener was out on bond after being arrested earlier on in the week for possession of marijuana.

It isn't the first time he has been caught with marijuana. In 2010, he was caught with nearly a half pound of the drug while on the job at Rosetta Stone.

Diener's home is now the center of an investigation. Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson says it began after the sheriff's office received a tip from an anonymous person about illegal activity.

A search warrant WHSV obtained points out that a source with the Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative determined that Diener was using eight times the normal amount of electricity for his home.

"Upon conducting the search, we did find marijuana at the residence and those were the charges that we placed against that individual," said Hutcheson.

He says that lead to another discovery.

"We also found a very large volume of computer type of equipment, a computer operation. Again it was not consistent with what you would find in a residence," said Hutcheson.

That computer is now at a Drug Enforcement Agency crime lab.

"They are looking at that to determine exactly what it is, what it is all about. There's a number of things that it could possibly be," said Hutcheson.

Neighbors tell us they don't think Diener is a threat to the community.

Diener was not available for comment Friday when we attempted to interview him. His next court appearance is December 3.

BITCOIN?  Bitcoin anywhere?

[QuestionAuthority]

http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/Pot-Bust-Leads-To-Investigation-into-Mans-Computer-228429621.html

Updated: Sat 12:33 AM, Oct 19, 2013

BROADWAY, Va. -- Friday night, Jonas Diener was out on bond after being arrested earlier on in the week for possession of marijuana.

It isn't the first time he has been caught with marijuana. In 2010, he was caught with nearly a half pound of the drug while on the job at Rosetta Stone.

Diener's home is now the center of an investigation. Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson says it began after the sheriff's office received a tip from an anonymous person about illegal activity.

A search warrant WHSV obtained points out that a source with the Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative determined that Diener was using eight times the normal amount of electricity for his home.

"Upon conducting the search, we did find marijuana at the residence and those were the charges that we placed against that individual," said Hutcheson.

He says that lead to another discovery.

"We also found a very large volume of computer type of equipment, a computer operation. Again it was not consistent with what you would find in a residence," said Hutcheson.

That computer is now at a Drug Enforcement Agency crime lab.

"They are looking at that to determine exactly what it is, what it is all about. There's a number of things that it could possibly be," said Hutcheson.

Neighbors tell us they don't think Diener is a threat to the community.

Diener was not available for comment Friday when we attempted to interview him. His next court appearance is December 3.

BITCOIN?  Bitcoin anywhere?

What are the other things it could possibly be other than law enforcement bullshit artists?

"They are looking at that to determine exactly what it is, what it is all about. There's a number of things that it could possibly be," said Hutcheson

[valiron]

From PoW to PoE (Police Enforcement).

Don't smoke shit if you mine...

[riiiiising]

the police will come if you're using too much power??

[V8x8d]

Heat-Sensing Helicopters have been detecting heat signatures through walls in the UK long before Bitcoins creation and raiding on this alone. I guess this is probably harder to spot in your wooden homes.

[niothor]

the police will come if you're using too much power??

If a in the original article not the fabricated one , you have a criminal record in MJ growing and somebody tips again the police it's likely.

[tzortz]

Ooops, I should decrease my hash rate...

[bigasic]

Im surprised that we haven't heard more about these types of raids. The only thing that makes it non-news in the bitcoin world is that he was probably growing marijuana or at least had some when they did the raid. Now, if we have a story of some poor miner that didn't have drugs and was raided, that would be news.

[BCwinning]

I don't get why the power company would do this shit.
As long as the person is current with their bill, they are getting paid.
Or was the employee an excuse for another method used?
Such BS they are pulling.
What's considered a "normal" amount? 2000kw a month? 1000?

[omgbossis21]

Guarantee he never gets any of that equipment back and the dea make a nice chunk off auctioning it.  I completely disagree with the "well he served his time for it before so that's probable cause this time" argument.  I think its a waste of time and tax dollars and should of been handled very different.  For example, cops knock on door and says we have a tip that your power usage is off the wall and we're wondering what's going on, may we have a look around?  Knowing they can get their warrant when the guy says no within the hour he would likely let them and explain he mines bitcoin.  Fact is had they busted in and killed the guy (which happens on a regular basis here in the good ol US of A) it would just be "yea we killed him but he had pot", all officers would be cleared of any wrong doing and they still seize his equipment and make their money.

[BCwinning]

Guarantee he never gets any of that equipment back and the dea make a nice chunk off auctioning it.  I completely disagree with the "well he served his time for it before so that's probable cause this time" argument.  I think its a waste of time and tax dollars and should of been handled very different.  For example, cops knock on door and says we have a tip that your power usage is off the wall and we're wondering what's going on, may we have a look around?  Knowing they can get their warrant when the guy says no within the hour he would likely let them and explain he mines bitcoin.  Fact is had they busted in and killed the guy (which happens on a regular basis here in the good ol US of A) it would just be "yea we killed him but he had pot", all officers would be cleared of any wrong doing and they still seize his equipment and make their money.

Absolutely right, if he does get it back it's going to cost him a lot of money.
The system is set up that it costs you several thousand dollars to get back property that was
illegally seized. They sure don't just say here is your stuff back sorry.

[inBitweTrust]

While DEA SWAT raid won't typically be carried out by evidence of a high electrical bill alone, the corroborating evidence can be extremely low to instigate a dangerous and violent raid in the US.

There are more and more cases like the example below where raids are done based upon horrible evidence:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BJXD4iLn6g
Buy hydroponics from a store, police illegally check for excess heat (Very commonly done without search warrants - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHmP_KtmcB4) , police look for gardening evidence without bothering to even test for marijuana all will prompt a DEA Raid. These raids will often destroy property, cause tremendous psychological trauma , and sometimes kill innocent dogs and people.


Inland checkpoints with full body cavity searches:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPEXYkffgpw


The laws in the US when it comes to asset seizures and drugs are going to insure that police continue to conduct dangerous raids and setup illegal inland checkpoints. America has become a police state.  

[TheClownSong]

Guarantee he never gets any of that equipment back and the dea make a nice chunk off auctioning it.  I completely disagree with the "well he served his time for it before so that's probable cause this time" argument.  I think its a waste of time and tax dollars and should of been handled very different.  For example, cops knock on door and says we have a tip that your power usage is off the wall and we're wondering what's going on, may we have a look around?  Knowing they can get their warrant when the guy says no within the hour he would likely let them and explain he mines bitcoin.  Fact is had they busted in and killed the guy (which happens on a regular basis here in the good ol US of A) it would just be "yea we killed him but he had pot", all officers would be cleared of any wrong doing and they still seize his equipment and make their money.

Absolutely right, if he does get it back it's going to cost him a lot of money.
The system is set up that it costs you several thousand dollars to get back property that was
illegally seized. They sure don't just say here is your stuff back sorry.

Even if he does get his miners back they will have deprecated in value by the time he gets them back as the difficulty is rising rapidly (making them less valuable). I also find it very hard to believe that a search warrant would include computer equipment to be seized if it is suspected that the man was growing drugs in his house.

[niothor]

Guarantee he never gets any of that equipment back and the dea make a nice chunk off auctioning it.  I completely disagree with the "well he served his time for it before so that's probable cause this time" argument.  I think its a waste of time and tax dollars and should of been handled very different.  For example, cops knock on door and says we have a tip that your power usage is off the wall and we're wondering what's going on, may we have a look around?  Knowing they can get their warrant when the guy says no within the hour he would likely let them and explain he mines bitcoin.  Fact is had they busted in and killed the guy (which happens on a regular basis here in the good ol US of A) it would just be "yea we killed him but he had pot", all officers would be cleared of any wrong doing and they still seize his equipment and make their money.

Absolutely right, if he does get it back it's going to cost him a lot of money.
The system is set up that it costs you several thousand dollars to get back property that was
illegally seized. They sure don't just say here is your stuff back sorry.

Even if he does get his miners back they will have deprecated in value by the time he gets them back as the difficulty is rising rapidly (making them less valuable). I also find it very hard to believe that a search warrant would include computer equipment to be seized if it is suspected that the man was growing drugs in his house.

You know that the raid was from last year and there is no mention about bitcoin miners in the press for all this period except a crappy article in a crappy blog like altcoinpress who denatured a post from 1 year ago to make it sensational?

Also they used a picture from another police operation?

[jjc326]

They can take anything in your home, basically, when they find drugs.  They'll use the law of forfeiture and say anything you got is due to selling drugs so they can take it.  You should see how much law enforcement gets, cars, cash, etc.

[inBitweTrust]

They can take anything in your home, basically, when they find drugs.  

It's much worse than that. Asset forfeiture laws grant them the ability to steal from you if they find cash without drugs. Judges have decided that cash can be treated as a having "personhood" status and charged directly without evidence showing the money was used for illegal purposes.

This unusual interpretation of the law forces the defendant to have to hire a lawyer an prove the money was legally obtained for the chance of getting some of it back. You are therefore guilty until proven innocent.  

This is one reason why Bitcoin is so important and why any "Banking approved" services like Applepay will never have the same important use cases that Bitcoin can provide. Apple, paypal, and banks will instantly freeze your funds when a judge demands so, while the blockchain remains sovereign.

[counter]

Police didn't find a grow op but a bag personal consumption, and then they stole his computers.  Anybody that can't understand that is borderline brain dead or far worse.  Paint the picture however you want about people stating the facts and their opinions.  The reality is the majority of people no right from wrong and don't need to be told the difference.  The post in this thread is clear evidence of that. 

 It's the people that refuse to admit when their wrong, they are the real issue.  Just like the cops in this story, some people can't admit when they are wrong and they will make up any bull just to seem credible.  In reality they are just butthurt children who don't have a clue how the real world works. 

[inBitweTrust]

What is most egregious, shouldn't be the fact that police may have used illegal methods to investigate his mining operation(IR detectors without a search warrant), or the fact that they stole his mining equipment, but the fact that certain humans are given special privileges to torture you, kidnap you and rob from you because you enjoy consuming a plant.

This is obscene and I would suggest that he should be in his right to defend himself against these unethical thugs.

[dKingston]

Sad and funny story at the same time! That poor guy will go to jail for some weed but I don't understand a thing... Why did the police take the miners?
There is NOTHING illegal in mining! News still destroy credibility of bitcoin...

[inBitweTrust]

Sad and funny story at the same time! That poor guy will go to jail for some weed but I don't understand a thing... Why did the police take the miners?
There is NOTHING illegal in mining! News still destroy credibility of bitcoin...

They took them because the laws allow them to take any large amount of cash(with or without drugs) and all your possessions if they suspect you are dealing or profiting from drugs. They than are able to sell your assets on auction to buy themselves overtime, new gear, and bonuses.

This is the reason federal agents will often conduct raids even in the states where marijuana has been legalized or decriminalized. There is too much money being made by stealing from drug dealers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjRzOXgweVU